Data as of .
ARKB vs BTC: which tracked its coin?
Over the year, ARKB finished 0.50 of a percentage point ahead of Bitcoin and BTC 0.47 ahead.
ETFIQ Coin Capture Score: ARKB scores higher
How much of what holding the coin gave did a holder of the fund keep?
A percentile among the 24 spot crypto ETPs with a full year. It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation. All crypto ETFs ranked by it · How it is computed
The same coin, two trusts
ARKB and BTC hold the same asset. Both are 1933 Act trusts holding Bitcoin through a custodian, so neither has a portfolio to compare: the whole of each fund is one line. Over the same days, ARKB finished 0.50 of a percentage point ahead of Bitcoin and BTC 0.47 of a percentage point ahead, so BTC kept more of what holding the coin gave, by 0.03 of a percentage point. That gap is the fee, the custody, the creation and redemption friction and the market’s pricing of the shares, compounded into one figure. ARKB has 202 more days of record than BTC, and a longer record is a longer window over which a cost can show itself.
Performance, window by window
| Window | Total return | The coin over the same days | Difference, percentage points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARKB | BTC | ARKB | BTC | ARKB | BTC | |
| 1 month | +21.9% | +21.9% | +21.8% | +21.8% | +0.2 pts | +0.1 pts |
| 3 months | +21.5% | +21.4% | +21.5% | +21.5% | 0.0 pts | −0.1 pts |
| 6 months | +8.5% | +8.4% | +8.8% | +8.8% | −0.4 pts | −0.4 pts |
| 1 year | −32.7% | −32.7% | −33.2% | −33.2% | +0.5 pts | +0.5 pts |
| Since each listed | +64.4% | +18.0% | +66.6% | +19.5% | −2.2 pts | −1.5 pts |
| ARKB Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF Holds Bitcoin through a custodian, listed Jan 11, 2024 | BTC Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF Holds Bitcoin through a custodian, listed Jul 31, 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsor | Ark | Grayscale |
| Holds | Bitcoin | Bitcoin |
| Net assets | $1.9bn, balance sheet of Jun 30, 2026 | $3.2bn, balance sheet of Jun 30, 2026 |
| Sponsor’s fee | 0.21% | 0.15% |
| Fee waiver | the whole fee | none |
| Staking | the chain has none | the chain has none |
| Listed | Jan 11, 2024 | Jul 31, 2024 |
| Days since listing | 974 days | 772 days |
| Days it has traded | 669 | 531 |
| Days it closed unchanged | 3 | 4 |
| Quoted | on an exchange, every trading day | on an exchange, every trading day |
| Fund returned, 1 year or since launch | −32.7% | −32.7% |
| The coin over the same days | −33.2% | −33.2% |
| Difference, percentage points | +0.5 pts | +0.5 pts |
| Fund returned since it listed | +64.4% | +18.0% |
| Difference since it listed | −2.2 pts | −1.5 pts |
| Price | $25.62 | $34.15 |
ARKB in plain words
ARKB holds Bitcoin through a custodian and trades on an exchange, so a holder gets the coin’s return inside a brokerage account rather than a wallet. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026, Bitcoin moved −33.2% and ARKB returned −32.7%. That leaves it 0.50 of a percentage point ahead. That difference is the fee, the custody cost, the friction of creating and redeeming shares in blocks, and whatever the market paid for the shares rather than for the coin, all of it together. It is the only figure on this page the sponsor does not publish itself. ARKB charges 0.21% a year and still finished 0.5% ahead of Bitcoin, which a fee cannot do on its own. On a chain with nothing to stake, a fund cannot earn its way past the asset it holds: what moved is what the market paid for the shares. A spot trust is not a registered investment company. It files a 10-K rather than an N-PORT, and its holding is one line: the Bitcoin it custodies.
BTC in plain words
BTC holds Bitcoin through a custodian and trades on an exchange, so a holder gets the coin’s return inside a brokerage account rather than a wallet. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026, Bitcoin moved −33.2% and BTC returned −32.7%. That leaves it 0.47 of a percentage point ahead. BTC charges 0.15% a year and still finished 0.5% ahead of Bitcoin, which a fee cannot do on its own.
Questions people ask
- Which tracked Bitcoin more closely, ARKB or BTC?
- Over the window to Sep 11, 2026, ARKB finished 0.50 of a percentage point ahead of Bitcoin and BTC 0.47 of a percentage point ahead, so BTC tracked it more closely, by 0.03 of a percentage point. That difference is the fee, the custody cost, the friction of creating and redeeming shares in blocks and whatever the market paid for the shares rather than for the coin, all together.
- Do ARKB or BTC pay a staking yield?
- Bitcoin is a proof of work chain, so there is nothing to stake and no fund holding it can pay a staking yield.
- What is the difference between ARKB and BTC?
- Both hold Bitcoin through a custodian and both trade on an exchange, so what separates them is what each costs a holder over time. ARKB is sponsored by Ark and listed Jan 11, 2024; BTC by Grayscale, listed Jul 31, 2024.
- Which is cheaper, ARKB or BTC?
- ARKB charges 0.21% a year and BTC charges 0.15%, so BTC is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Other comparisons
Where these figures came from
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, ARKB against BTC, data as of Sep 11, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/crypto/ARKB-BTC Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.